The Tourists Wear Thongs

The devil wears prada and many young tourists wear thongs. I have shown these sandals before in several photos, but just now I decided to bring this detail forward.

So many photos?, you remarked, I never seen tourists wearing thongs in your photos. Sure you have, you just don’t remember or did not repair in the fact that tourists were wearing this type of sandals.

Here are some of the photos, chosen at random, showing tourists wearing thongs:

Now, the million-dollar question, why do so many tourists wear thongs when they go on a trip, but not at home?

14 Responses to "The Tourists Wear Thongs"

Jerry T says:
August 25, 2008 at 6:16 am
Flip-flops (thongs) are all the rage here in Texas and people wear them anytime and any place. They seem to be the preferred type of sandal for all ages. I think they are supposed to be comfortable???? I don’t think so…
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emromesco says:
August 25, 2008 at 7:32 am
I second Jerry’s comment… up here in the True White North the moment the thermometre goes above zero, which happens around April, people start using flip-flops. I even saw this year a girl with a raincoat (almost a Winter coat) and sandals in late March. I had to run under the rain on a recent mini trip to Niagara-On-The-Lake with a pair of sandals I bought in Antigua (flip flop type but made of leather) and it was sooo hard. So, tourists might wear them in Guate because it is a “tropical” country and really, if you can wear sandals it cannot be Winter.
I guess TX has a better weather year around than Toronto. I stayed one night in Houston on my way back from Guate and it seemed like a nice city, at least the neighbourhood where my friend lives (don’t ask me details or directions though 🙂 )
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Raquel says:
August 25, 2008 at 8:06 am
Hahaha, oh dear…Rudy, in Canada a thong is something quite different from a sandal (a least if you’re under the age of 40)…Flip-flop is probably a better bet! 🙂
Also, I lived in Winnipeg Manitoba last year and I definately wore flip flops straight through January. They’re just so comfortable and as long as I don’t have to go more than a dozen steps through the snow and -40 weather, I don’t even bother with socks and shoes. 🙂
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Rudy says:
August 25, 2008 at 8:56 am
@Rachel, I know the main meaning of thongs… I was just trying to be clever. I gusss it didn’t work. 🙁
@JerrT and @emoromesco, I guess flip flop thong sandals are in fashion now. It’s been a while since I set a foot on the North American soil.
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Ale says:
August 25, 2008 at 10:06 am
Everyone wears flip flops up here. It does not matter where you go. A year or so ago there was even a ‘controversy’ when a high school sports team went to the White House and some girls wore flip flops. 🙂
Me? I love and live in mine.
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Stephanie says:
August 25, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Oh, don’t get me started on how casual dress has become in the US! Yes, they wear flip-flops all over here in Western NY as well. When I was a child they were *only* worn to the swimming pool…and the same will be true for my son.
I’m more appalled by the shorts the young woman is wearing in the photo. How anyone can think it is appropriate to wear clothing like that when traveling abroad, I don’t know. (I don’t even think those shorts are appropriate around town in the US.)
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Don B. says:
August 26, 2008 at 1:07 pm
I’ve never found these things comfortable at all. The piece that goes up between the toes bothers me. But I wear huaraches year-round unless there is snow on the ground!
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Lessie says:
August 27, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Flip-Flops have been the rage here (i.e., everyday wear for young people not in an office and weekend wear for others) for a couple of years — and still are. The girl in the pictures is dressed appropriately (and even maybe conservatively) for shopping, errand running, college (not high school — they usually have a length-of-shorts rule), and depending on where, maybe even church. Yes, U.S. dress is so casual, she looks quite normal to me.
I appreciate the comments above b/c it helps me remember that what seems normal to me, may be inappropriate to others.
Last aside — I was shocked at my 1st cousin’s dress recently. She’s about 16 and her mother is 40ish. They met me and my sister for lunch at a local mall. They were going to shop. Unlike the girl above, my cousin’s shorts were hugging her hips, displaying her stomach and her butt shank was on the verge of visible. Her top was tight and short, adding to the bit of stomach showing. I was saddened that her mother thought so little of her daughter to let her dress that way. Soooo! I am relieved by the girl-above’s dress. 🙂
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Rudy says:
August 27, 2008 at 4:56 pm
@Lessie, I agree with you. Actually, I thought nothing about the girl’s dress code… mostly I wanted to point out that a large number of young tourists wear thongs while promenading around La Antigua Guatemala. I am glad to know that thongs or flip flops are in fashion everywhere and that people wearing them are just comfortably walking with style. 😉
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kathy says:
September 3, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Here on the coast in Quintana Roo (Mexico), everyone from the Maya to the locals to the Euros to the tourists wear them. The really clear plastic ones are especially favored by palaperos and abaniles.
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Rob says:
September 18, 2008 at 9:39 am
I found this while searching to see how inappropriate it might be for adult men to wear shorts in Guat City. I feel like I’ve gotten some looks in the past and have switched to khakis only.
While it’s true that the “fashion” that girl is wearing is ubiquitous and popular in the US and probably elsewhere, I don’t think that makes it acceptible or appropriate, especially in other countries. I’m hoping that those who wear short shorts and flip flops in such instances begin to notice the looks they receive, and that those looks are of disdain or something like sympathy. The only way to counter a culture is to create a counterculture and hope it becomes more popular. Perhaps that’s why young people wear the clothes they wear, or how they came to it anyway.
It would be nice if people would at least remember the saying, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” when traveling abroad.
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Betty Anne Tarini says:
June 28, 2012 at 11:12 am
Ha, ha – yes thong has come to mean something else, but I remember when it referred to footwear. One thing for sure, you have to be careful about your footwear in Antigua. The cobblestones are hard to walk on and it’s easy to trip.
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1. Rudy says:
  June 28, 2012 at 11:34 am
  Yes Betty Anne, what was the other meaning of thongs?
  Reply

The Tourists Wear Thongs

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